A 39-ball 73 from 39-year old Brad Haddin steered Islamabad United to a remarkable seven-wicket win in the opening match of the Pakistan Super League against Peshawar Zalmi at the Dubai International Stadium. For large parts of the game, that result looked extremely unlikely, never more so than during a 122-run partnership – the second-largest for any wicket in the brief history of the PSL – for Peshawar between Dawid Malan and Kamran Akmal, who scored a brilliant 88, with the stand coming as it did in just 68 balls. At that stage, Darren Sammy’s men looked set for a total well in excess of 200, but Islamabad made regular inroads into the batting thereafter, and even a late surge from Chris Jordan couldn’t get Peshawar past 190.

Lahore Qalandars lost a game that they seemed to have a grip on for the first 25 overs. In a chase of 137, Lahore combined woeful shot selection with poor running to gift last year's finalists a thrilling eight-run win at the Dubai Stadium. The two points Quetta Gladiators get may as well have a bow on them.

Lahore looked set for a comfortable win when Jason Roy and Brendon McCullum took the attack to Zulfiqar Babar right from the beginning of the run chase, each contributing quickfire scores in the twenties to set Qalandars up nicely. However, Zulfiqar got his revenge by ultimately accounting for both of them. Even then - with the score on 49 from 4.3 overs - Lahore looked to be well on course. Then, left-arm spinners Hasan Khan and last year's sensation Mohammad Nawaz, strangled Lahore with a tight middle-stump line and waited for the batsmen to make mistakes, who duly obliged as the last nine wickets fell for 79 runs.

Earlier, Quetta's innings failed to take off at any point in the first thirteen overs, with all batsmen struggling for timing after Lahore's bowlers continued to build up pressure. At 65 for 5 in 13 overs, Quetta looked like they might struggle to get past the PSL's record lowest score of 111, but a late surge from Rilee Rossouw, who anchored the Gladiators' innings with 60, got them to a defensible total. From there, it was their bowling - and Lahore's suicidal approach - that did the rest.

Peshawar Zalmi survived a spell of fierce new-ball fast bowling from Mohammad Amir as they beat Karachi Kings by seven wickets. It was England's limited overs skipper Eoin Morgan who steered Peshawar to a modest chase of Karachi's 118, which looked anything but when he came in after two overs with his side wobbling at 2 for 2.

In the end, Kumar Sangakkara's team could never quite recover from a horror start, falling to 12 for 4 inside five overs after being sent in at the toss. Mohammad Hafeez, who mystifyingly didn't bowl on Thursday in Peshawar's defeat to Islamabad, opened the attack and dismissed Shahzaib Hasan in the first over to place Karachi under immediate pressure.

Babar Azam, Sangakarra and Gayle followed swiftly before veteran allrounders Shoaib Malik and Ravi Bopara helped Karachi regroup. However, that came at the cost of a run rate under six throughout the partnership, and the 118 Karachi mustered by the end didn't look nearly enough. An exquisite opening spell from Amir temporarily delayed the inevitable and the Kings were ultimately powerless against a superb T20 knock by Morgan, who scored over two-thirds of Peshawar's runs to end unbeaten on 80.

A blistering 78-run knock from Islamabad United opener Sam Billings neutralised Quetta Gladiators’ impressive spinners Mohammad Nawaz and Hasan Khan and ensured the defending champions inflicted the season’s first defeat upon Quetta. In the first game of this season’s PSL at the Sharjah Stadium, the 25-year-old England batsman combined clean timing with explosive power-hitting to keep his side on course throughout the chase.

Kumar Sangakkara’s best form since international retirement wasn’t enough to overhaul Lahore Qalandars’ top-heavy batting performance in the latter’s seven-run win.In an entertaining contest at the Sharjah Stadium, Brendon McCullum’s men struggled to deliver a knockout blow to Karachi Kings, which meant the win looked narrower than it actually was. Karachi’s chase of 180 looked an uphill battle from the start, with the beleaguered Chris Gayle holing out to long-off in the second over of the chase bowled by Sunil Narine. Karachi’s challenge, in truth, lasted for the duration of the 101-run third-wicket partnership between Sangakarra and Shoaib Malik. When the pair fell within five balls of each other, the chase swiftly faded.

Continual rain in Sharjah meant only 16 overs were possible in the game between the PSL’s top two sides this season.Quetta Gladiators won the toss and, as has been the theme of the tournament, put Peshawar Zalmi in to bat. There were no less than three weather interruptions in Peshawar’s innings, which saw Tamim Iqbal bat through, finishing unbeaten on 62 off 46 balls. It was a pitch more reminiscent of the fifth day of a sub-continental Test match; the ball spat off the surface, and anyone who could turn their arm over was thrust into the attack. Case in point: Rilee Rossouw bowled for the first time in T20 cricket, and had Eoin Morgan caught at first slip off his very first ball.